The present device generally relates to a burner assembly for a cooking appliance. In particular, a switch included in the burner assembly can control the use of various outlet sections of the burner in response to the size of an associated cooking article.
Burner assemblies for both gas and electric cooktops, or cooking hobs, having multiple, concentric burner segments have been developed to offer flexibility with respect to the output level of one or more cooking sections of such cooktops. In general, such burner assemblies have a smaller, inset section surrounded by a larger section, with the smaller section intended to be used alone when the burner is used to heat a relatively small cooking article. The larger section may be used in addition to the smaller section when the burner is used to heat a relatively larger cooking article. In current cooktops incorporating such burner assemblies, a control is provided that allows a user to control the heat output of the burner assembly along with the operation (on or off) of the outer large burner section. However, some users may find such controls confusing or may not properly utilize the respective sections of the burner, causing overheating or smaller cooking articles, inefficiency due to wasted heat, or other efficiency concerns. Accordingly, further advances may be desired.